Improvement in harvester-rakes



GROSSMAN & SPICER.

Harvester Rake.

No. 69,322. Patented Oct. 1, 1867.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MonTeoMERY'cRossMAN, on MARENGO, AND PRATT A. SPIGER, or

MARSHALL, MICHIGAN. A

IMPROVEMENT IN HARVESTER-RAKES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 69,322, dated October 1, 1867.

the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figurel is a perspective view of the rakes, &c. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of detached portions in perspective. Fig. 3 is a side elevation.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre-'..

sponding parts in all the figures. I

A represents a curved or bracketed cast standard, bolted to the upper side of the finger-bar, at its connecting end, to a harvestingmachine, or to a contiguous portion of its p1atformB. Avertioal shaft, 0, carrying a grooved pulley, D, passes through the upper standardbracket, and is stepped in its bed-plate at below. The shaft projects suficiently above the standard to receive an iron cap, E, formed with lateral elongations c, to which the inner ends of the wooden rake-arms F are hinged by overlapping iron straps f, so as to permit fiee vertlcal vibration. A rake, as at G, provided with wooden or iron teeth, is (for reasons to be hereinafter explained) pivoted out of the center to the outer end of each rake-arm, and the arms and connected rakes are revolved by a rope or chain, c, passing over a driving-pulley, 19 on the machine-axle, and over the pulley 1), being guided and tightened by one or more grooved pulleys, as at 19 H represents a trackway, semicircular, or nearly so, concentric with the shaft G, and forming a double inclined plane, to tilt the rakes as they pass over the drivers head, and to operate in connection with the other devices for supporting the rakes over the platform, as will hereinafter more fully appear; and we usually construct the trackway so that its curved extremities will be mere arms, and connect it with the back of the standard by a bent central extension.

To a portion of the cap E, below the rakearms, we connect, by a hinge-joint, what we call a variable tripping abutment/P J, which 'is simply a metal plate extending out radially below the arms in a slightly downward direction, and having a lateral slope. It is sustained against dropping or being forced farther downward by end pressure by means of shoulders or stops at the hinged or inner end, the outer end having two or more step-like faces, as may be clearly seen at I. We then hang to the under side of each rake-arm, in the manner shown, or by brackets or other suitable device, a traversing roller, R, which, when mounted, lies in a circular path coincident with the track H, and supports the rakearm in passing over said track. The pins P, on which the rollers revolve, we term abutting pins,? as they extend toward the commoncenter, so as to abut against one or the other of the step-faces I, and so maintain the rakes in suspension at varying heights above the platform. The mode of tripping is by an overbalanced or spring cam, K, pivoted to the side of g a curved ear, m, cast on the standard. A

cord, n, is attached to the cam, and passes through a guide-loop, g, to a treadle, T, near the drivers foot.

; L represents a bent guide-lever, pivoted to one side of the standard, the long arm a being within reach of the driver, and the short arm a in the track of and immediately. below the hinged abutments, which slide over said short arm at the point where the abutting-pin P comes in contact, and so determines the particular face to be engaged with, and consequently the height at which the rake will revolve above the platform.

To maintain the rake with sufficient rigidity in a parallel position with the platform of the machine when the arm is dropped from a horizontal line to said platform and back, also to keep the rake parallel with its arm when at or above ahorizontal line,we use thefollowin g combined arrangement: First, we make the outer half of the rake the heaviest, by pivoting it out of the center, and loading it, if necessary, to overbalance the inner or shorter half. It is retained in line with its arm by a stop, cl, which may be provided with an end lip to confine the rake laterally. We then attach a bracketarm, M, rigidly to the rake, and connect by a jointto the upperend of said arm a rod, N, which extends above and parallel with the arm, and is connected to a link, 0, pivoted below to stop-ears S, cast on the cap. This link is stopped by a flange, i, in front of the car, from moving outward, and so holds the rake firmly parallel one way, the overbala-nced half holding it the other.

It is not essential that the points of vibra tion in the rake-arm and rod should be exactly in a vertical line; but such points must be so arranged that a line passing through them will describe a figure which, if not rectangular, will have opposite parallel sides.

It is unimportant at what precise point the lower end of the connecting-link O is pivoted to the cap, as it remains stationary against the stop-flange 2' except when the rake-arm is lifted in passing over the track-way.

The. mode of operation may be readily understood by a reference to Figs. 2 and 3. In Fig. 2' the rake-arm is seen as descending the leaving end of the traokway H, and as it advances downward the end of the abutting pin P comes in contact with the particular end face of the tripping-abutment that may be presented by the said abutment when sliding over the short arm a of the guide-leverL. This holds the rake suspended horizontally, or nearly so, until it is tripped by the sloping under side of the hinged abutment passing over the upward projection of the set-cam K, which lifts. the hinged abutment from its contact with the abutting pin. The rake-arm drops as may be clearly seen in Fig. 3, and the rake falls with rigid parallelism at the proper point on the platform and sweeps off the cut grain.

Should the operator decide that there will not be enough cut to make a bundle by the time the succeeding rake comes round, he raises his foot from the treadle, when the overbalance of the tripping-cam or the action of a spring will partially revolve the said cam, so that it will not lift the next abutment, and therake will pass clear over the accumulating gram.

It will be seen that these rakes act also as reels, and may so act exclusively for a time, if desired, as dropping them on the platform to rake off the grain is not arbitrary, but entirely dependent upon the will of the operator.

A friction-roller may be conveniently inserted between any of the rubbing-surfaces, if deemed necessary.

Our arrangement for operating the rakes or reels differs from others in this, that by ours the operator can more perfectly and with greater ease adapt the rakes or reels to the various and sudden changes of conditions in the field, as, for instance, in the slight effort requisite to raise or lower the plane of rotation, for, as the sole duty of the guide-lever is to sustain a portion of the weight of the hinged abutment, it permits the operator to manipulate it in a variety of ways quickly and without distracting his attention. The mode,

also, of dropping the rake with rigid parallelism on the platform, and holding it when tilted in line with its vibrating arm, has not, we believe, been before effected with so few parts and in so simple and effective a manner. 7

We do not claim irrespectively revolving a series of rakes, which act as reels, and dropping the same automatically on the platform to rake oil" the cut grain, nor do we claim elevating such rakes by means of a double inclined plane over the drivers head, as the same things have been accomplished before; but

What we do claim, and desire to secure by.

;tation in rakes or reels, when so suspended, by

the employment of stepped faces I on the hinged abutment J, in combination with the guide-lever L, as set forth.

3. Preserving the parallelism of the rake with its vibrating arm and with the platform of the machine by overbalancing and. stopping said rake, and connecting it with its revolvin g central cap by the combined arrangement of the bracket-arm M, rod N, link 0, and stop-ears S, substantially in the manner herein specified.

MONTGOMERY OROSSMAN. PRATT A. SPIOER.

Witnesses:

G. T. Coon, Orro L. JOHNSON. 

